Bale: Manchester United Bid Rumour Excites Thomas

Former Manchester United player Mickey Thomas hopes Gareth Bale will move to Old Trafford and not Real Madrid.

Tottenham have reportedly received a separate offer in addition to Real Madrid's world record £86m bid for Wales star Bale.

And on Monday United boss David Moyes refused to deny his side's interest in signing Bale.

"The whispers around the club are that he's Old Trafford-bound," said former Wales and United winger Thomas.

"That might be more in hope than anything else but it could happen, because by all accounts Real Madrid have not got all the money to put down for Gareth Bale and by all accounts they owe money for Luka Modric [who left Spurs to join Real for around £30m in August 2012].

"So that might not happen and he might be Old Trafford-bound. That would be great news for Welsh football and certainly for Manchester United."

Another former Wales star, Barry Horne, also speaking on the BBC's Radio Wales Sport programme, suggested that Manchester United could see Bale as an ideal replacement for fellow Welsh winger Ryan Giggs.

"Man United have got fortunes to spend and there was talk that the second club involved wasn't Chelsea, it was Man United," Horne said.

"That would make sense: one fantastic, left-footed, talisman genius is close to retirement so you replace him with another - makes perfect sense.

"It wouldn't cost United £86m because... at this point in the game Spurs are a little bit exposed to the tune of £55-60m [with the new players bought].

"The only thing that I can think of is that there are subsequent deals in the offing... it's not difficult to understand that [Wayne] Rooney, [Luis] Suarez, [Juan] Mata could all be linked - and even the top man himself, [Cristiano] Ronaldo."